Wizards suddenly down, out

Down went Gilbert Arenas. And with him, in all likelihood, went the Washington Wizards’ hopes of achieving much of anything in the playoffs this season.

Arenas sprained his left knee in a collision with Gerald Wallace in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s 108-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats at Washington. The three-time All-Star will have an MRI exam today to determine the extent of the damage, but the recovery time from such injuries is usually measured in weeks, not days, and the Wizards have eight games left in the regular season.

He was just standing there, settling into rebounding position as Wallace drove baseline. When Wallace threw up one of those incredible, off-balance reverse layups, he crashed inadvertently into the left leg of the Wizards’ guard.

The Wizards earlier this week lost All-Star forward Caron Butler to a broken hand, and they are 2-9 this season when he doesn’t play. Butler is expected to miss at least six weeks, meaning he will play again only if Washington advances deep into the playoffs.

Wallace, who survived several collisions in what became a physical game, finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Bobcats. He had also stymied the Wizards the previous night, getting 34 points and 14 rebounds in a 122-102 win at Charlotte on Tuesday.

Raymond Felton added 19 points and seven assists, Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Walter Hermann had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats, who have won six of nine.

Bulls 106, Pistons 88: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Kirk Hinrich scored 29 points, Luol Deng added 22 and Chicago beat listless Detroit.

Ben Wallace missed the Bulls’ game against his former team after going to the hospital with a sinus inflammation.

Nets 101, Hawks 86: At East Rutherford, N.J., backup forward Bostjan Nachbar scored 26 points and New Jersey overcame a second-quarter drought for a victory over injury-ravaged Atlanta.

Vince Carter added 24 points and eight assists, and Jason Kidd had 10 assists as the Nets won for the fourth time in five games and sent the Hawks to their seventh straight loss.

Trail Blazers 94, Jazz 89: Rookie Brandon Roy scored 25 of his season-high 29 points in the second half and short-handed Portland held off visiting Utah to snap a four-game losing streak.

Raptors 111, Magic 108: At Orlando, Fla., Chris Bosh scored 28 points, including five free throws down the stretch, to lift Toronto over Orlando.

Hedo Turkoglu shook off a recent shooting slump to score a career-high 37 points for the Magic, but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

76ers 92, Knicks 90: At New York, Andre Iguodala scored 18 points and blocked Stephon Marbury’s potential winning 3-point try, giving Philadelphia a victory over New York.

Marbury scored 28 of his 30 points after halftime, helping New York turn a double-digit deficit into a nine-point lead before they fell behind late.

Bucks 98, Celtics 89: At Milwaukee, Earl Boykins scored 32 points to help Milwaukee snap a seven-game losing streak by beating Boston.

Boston’s Paul Pierce and Milwaukee’s Michael Redd both sat out because of injuries, leaving each team without its leading scorer. The teams dressed nine players each.

Warriors 110, Rockets 99: At Houston, Jason Richardson scored 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, and Golden State took advantage of Tracy McGrady’s absence to beat Houston.

Baron Davis added 25 points and 10 assists for the Warriors.

Clippers 90, Lakers 82: Corey Maggette scored 22 points, four teammates reached double figures, and the Clippers beat the Lakers for their seventh win in eight games.

The loss was the fourth in five games for the Lakers, whose lead over seventh-place Denver in the Western Conference was cut to one-half game.

Nuggets 120, Kings 115: Carmelo Anthony produced his fourth straight 30-point game with 31 points, George Karl returned to Denver’s bench and the Nuggets beat Sacramento at Denver.

Karl missed Tuesday’s game against the Lakers to be with his son, who had surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes.

Around the league

Activists trying to block construction of a new arena in Brooklyn for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets plan to file a lawsuit claiming the project underwent an inadequate environmental review. The suit, expected to be filed today, will become the third legal challenge to the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment, which would include offices, a hotel, shops and thousands of apartments in 16 new buildings designed by celebrity architect Frank Gehry. … … Portland Trail Blazers rookie LaMarcus Aldridge is out indefinitely after experiencing dizziness and a rapid heartbeat. … The Trail Blazers also announced that they will retire the No. 14 jersey worn by Lionel Hollins, a guard on the 1977 championship team.